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‘Dada, they took away all my belongings. Nothing is left’: Victims of Mominpore anti-Hindu violence narrate their ordeal

OpIndia Staff
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‘Dada, they took away all my belongings. Nothing is left’: Victims of Mominpore anti-Hindu violence narrate their ordeal

A day after Islamists orchestrated a targeted attack on the Hindu community in the Mominpore locality of Kolkata, the victims have now come forward to narrate their ordeal.

“We are living under fear from yesterday night. They have created a state of panic by hurling bombs, forcing the youth to flee. Our houses were burnt,” a Hindu woman informed.

She said that all residents in the area had to abandon their houses and shift to the streets. “The police came only after 4 hours,” she informed. The woman narrated that the Islamists couldn’t violate them as they had run for safety immediately after the bombing began.

The Hindu residents lamented the indifference meted out to them by the local administration. Although the Kolkata Mayor, and West Bengal Chief Minister lived in close proximity to the locality, none came to the rescue of the local Hindu community. “The thana is just 15 minutes away,” informed a man in the background.

The Mominpore violence has wrought havoc on the lives of the Hindu community, who are now at the mercy of the police and the Muslim majority. “The house is completely burnt over there,” a man could be heard saying in the background.

The victims complained that their houses were looted by the Islamists. “I suffered the maximum damage,” a woman draped in a yellow saree lamented. From the visuals, it could be seen that her bed was completely charred in the arson attack.

“Dada, they have taken away all my belongings. Nothing is left,” she emphasised. “The wall, to which the TV is affixed, is damaged in the bombing. Look at the condition of the fan,” the woman highlighted. The video ended with a cautionary note from one of the residents, who said, “We need safety.”

A Hindu woman, dressed in a sareee, pointed out, “Bombs were hurled at us through the windows. The explosives were dipped in oil and thrown at our building. Our house was set on fire”. In the video, the walls of the woman’s house could be seen smeared with charcoal.

“The window was broken and glass was scattered all over the bed. The pelted bricks were lying all over the place. We had to clean the mess in the morning. We were afraid that the roof might fall. All of our belongings were on the bed,” another Hindu victim narrated.

Mominpore anti-Hindu riots: Here is what we know so far

OpIndia had reported how Islamists vandalised bikes and shops belonging to Hindus at Maila Depot in Mominpore on Sunday (October 9) evening.

According to West Bengal BJP Chief Sukanta Majumdar, the Hindu community was forced to flee after their houses came under attack in Mayurbhanj in the Kolkata port area.

BJP leader Pritam Sur also shared scary visuals where miscreants were seen unleashing mayhem on the streets. He tweeted, “Bombs and bricks are being hurled at us. Even the police are forced to flee. The situation is so grim that the face of democracy is blackened on the occasion of Lakshmi Puja.”

Under the false allegation that an Islamic flag was desecrated, the accused also ambushed the Ekbalpur police station and forced the cops to flee.

OpIndia had also learnt that the Hindus were targeted by Islamists for refusing to dismantle the Durga Puja pandals, ahead of the birth anniversary of Prophet Muhammad.

A Kolkata-based journalist, who is privy to the incident, the Durga Puja conducted by the Harijan Durgosave Committee (comprising of Hindu Dalits) was the primary target of the Islamists.

According to Twitter user Syed Ishtiyaque Alam, Mominpore anti-Hindu violence was the handiwork of Ghulam Asraf (Phoenix group owner), Rehan Khan (son-in-law of a TMC councillor), and Shahbaz Alam (a close aide of TMC leader Firhad Hakim).

Suvendu Adhikari wrote to the Union Ministry of Home Affairs and sought urgent deployment of central forces in the region to protect the Hindu community that came under attack from the Islamists.

How a fake mail slandered dead Godhra victims in 2002, which was copied by mainstream media: Read details

GujaratRiots.com
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How a fake mail slandered dead Godhra victims in 2002, which was copied by mainstream media: Read details

Around one week after the Godhra massacre of 27 February 2002, there was a malicious email circulated, copied from an Islamic website purporting to be a news portal, making horrible character assassinating and fake charges on the dead kar sewaks of Godhra. Prem Shankar Jha revealed this in Outlook dated 25 March 2002. He wrote:

“I am writing this column primarily to keep my promise to a young boy. About a week after the burning of the train at Godhra, a mysterious e-mail began to circulate in places as far apart as Delhi, Mumbai and Ann Arbor, Michigan. It gave what was purportedly the true story of the events that led to the burning of the train at Godhra. This is what the e-mail said:

“The tragic incident of Sabarmati Express that occurred about 1 km away from Godhra railway station has thrown a question mark to those people who claim to be secular or liberal. Many aspects and facts have been ignored and which I would like to bring to your notice. Compartment no S-6, along with two other compartments, of the Sabarmati Express was carrying the kar sevaks of the VHP. And it was due to these kar sevaks from compartment no S-6 that the incident occurred. The actual story didn’t start from Godhra as being told everywhere but it started from a place from Daahod 75 km before Godhra railway station. At about 5:30 to 6:00 am the train reached Daahod railway station. These kar sevaks, after having tea and snacks at the railway stall, broke down the stall after having some argument with the stall owner and they proceeded back to the departing train. The stall owner then filed an NC against kar sevaks at the local police station about the above incident. Then about 7:00 to 7:15 am the train reached Godhra railway station. All the kar sevaks came out from their reserved compartments and started to have tea and snacks, at the small tea stall on the platform, which was being run by an old bearded man from the minority community. There was a servant helping this old man in the stall. The kar sevaks on purpose argued with this old man and then bate him up and pulled his beard. This was all planned to humiliate the old man since he was from the minority community. These kar sevaks kept repeating the slogan, ‘Mandir ka nirmaan karo, Babar ki aulad ko bahar karo‘ (start building the mandir and throw the sons of Babar i.e the Muslims out of the country). Hearing the chaos, the daughter (16) of the old man who was also present at the station came forward and tried to save her father from kar sevaks. She kept pleading and begging them to stop beating her father and leave him alone. But instead of listening to her woes, the kar sevaks lifted the young girl and took her inside their compartment (S-6) and closed the compartment door shut. The train started to move out of the platform of Godhra railway station. The old man kept banging on the compartment doors and pleaded to leave his daughter. Just before the train could move out completely from the platform, two stall vendors jumped into the last bogey that comes after the guard cabin. And with the intention of saving the girl, they pulled the chain and stopped the train. By the time the train halted completely, it was 1 km away from the railway station.

“These two men then came to the bogey in which the girl was and started to bang at the door and requested the kar sevaks to leave the girl alone. Hearing all this chaos, people in the vicinity near the tracks started to gather towards the train. The boys and the mob (that also included women) that had now gathered near the compartment requested the kar sevaks to return the girl back. But instead of returning the girl, they started closing their windows. This infuriated the mob and they retaliated by pelting stones at the compartment. The compartment adjoining compartment S-6 on both sides contained kar sevaks of the VHP. These kar sevaks were carrying banners that had long bamboo sticks attached to them. These kar sevaks got down and started attacking with bamboo sticks on the mob gathered to save the girl. This was like adding insult to injury for the crowd gathered and their anger was now uncontrollable. The crowd started to bring diesel and petrol from trucks and rickshaws standing at the garages. They didn’t bring the fuel from any petrol pump as being reported everywhere nor was this act of burning pre-planned as being mentioned by many people but it happened all of a sudden out of sheer frustration and anger. After hearing about this incident, members of VHP living in that area started burning down the garages in Signal Fadia, they also burnt down Badshah Masjid, at Shehra Bhagaad (a small area in Godhra). Reliable resources have reported all this information and facts to me (and) their information can’t be doubted. I would also mention my sources namely Mr Anil Soni and Neelam Soni (reporters of Gujarat Samachar newspaper and also a member of PTI and ANI) have worked hard to dig the true facts and they duly deserve words of appraisal for their hard work.”

The letter then gave Soni’s residential, office and mobile phone numbers. The story was disturbing, to say the least. Much of it had already appeared in print. But there were strange inconsistencies. Would kar sevaks force a girl into a compartment occupied by their families? Soni’s mobile number gave the prefix as 0098 and not 098. Lastly, I was familiar with a First Information Report (FIR) but had never heard of an NC. So, I rang up Anil Soni in Godhra to get more details. That was when I got my first surprise. Soni not only categorically denied having ever filed such a story but also claimed that the contents of the mail were the exact opposite of what had happened. We were interrupted by another phone call (his life was being made miserable by inquiries). The next day when I called him again, he was out but I got his young son Vimal on the line. Vimal told me in great detail what his father had actually found out at the site of the tragedy. He said it was pre-planned and went on to add chilling details that his father had not included in his stories. He ended by entreating me to publicise the fact that his father did not file such a story. I am fulfilling my promise to him.”

That was fine. But after that Outlook should have published Anil Soni’s report on Godhra which said that the attack was pre-meditated and that the mob was ready and waiting, and that no one’s stall was destroyed by karsewaks, there was no attempt (successful or unsuccessful) to kidnap any Muslim girl and the train reached Godhra at 7:42 am and not 7 to 7:15 am. Prem Shankar Jha is an extremely anti-BJP, anti-Narendra Modi man. But his article revealed the reality of the mail, however, believed that mail at first, and got a ‘surprise’ when he called Anil Soni to ‘find out more details’. He should have realized that had Anil Soni really filed such a report, it would have appeared in PTI in his name, not in an e-mail, whose contents were obviously false.

Varsha Bhosle wrote on Rediff.com on 11 March 2002:

“… (the fake mail) gave 3 phone numbers of the Sonis. Well, I found Mr Soni at (02672) 40264. He said, “Are you calling up about the emails? That is completely bogus and rubbish. It is the work of my enemies.”

That’s how Islamists work – knowing well what “secularists” *like* to believe.

The portal whence the “news” was lifted proclaims to disseminate “Original Accurate News for the Ummah” and the item in question is written by Rajeel Sheikh and was published on March 2 (which was when I read it, 3 days before dorks sought to enlighten me).”

It is only after this malicious and false claim which was first made on an Islamic website [that website alleged that Jews did 9/11, called killings of terrorists in Kashmir as ‘Indian Army’s terrorism’, etc], falsely in the name of a PTI reporter Anil Soni, that the slander of the dead kar sewaks of Godhra reached unimaginably low levels. This claim was sent through numerous emails everywhere, including to British and American newspapers. After this, this claim was copied further by various newspapers in India and abroad, and various weeklies.

The Independent (UK) insulted the dead kar sewaks and made false allegations. The report written by Peter Popham published on 20 March 2002 said:“…What happened in car S/6 was the hideous finale. The story began nearly 36 hours earlier.

Many were also drunk or stoned, or equipped to get that way: flexible, tolerant Hinduism has no hard and fast rules about such things. And they were coming back to Gujarat, the only state in the Indian union that is still “dry”. All the more reason to have a bottle or two tucked away.

Here is what the slanderous Independent article said:

… The train was late: after a day and a half, it was running four and a half hours behind schedule. That’s why it arrived in Godhra not at 2.55 am, as scheduled, but at 7.15 am. By this time, the karsevaks were much worse for wear. Trouble had started at Dahod station, nearly one hour and 75km up the tracks. The train reached Dahod around 6 am, and a number of karsevaks got out of compartment S/6 to have tea and snacks at a stall on the platform. Already they were drunk and unruly. An argument broke out between the Hindus and the Muslim man running the tea stall – according to one account, they refused to pay unless he chanted “Jai Shri Ram”, the chant of Lord Ram’s devotees. He refused to oblige, and they started to smash up his stall, before climbing back into the carriage. The stallholder filed a complaint with the railway police. At Godhra, a similar scene ensued. The karsevaks, now noisily drunk, poured onto the platform, ordered more tea and snacks, consumed them, and then made difficulties. Exactly what transpired between the bearded Muslim stallholder and the travellers varies from one account to another. But all witness accounts seen by The Independent agree that there was a row. “They argued with the old man on purpose,” one witness said, on condition of anonymity. “They pulled his beard and beat him up… They kept repeating the slogan ‘mandir ki nirmaan karo, Babar ki aulad ko bahar karo’.” (“Build the temple and throw out the Muslims…”). Suddenly the row took a dangerous new turn: the karsevaks grabbed hold of a Muslim woman. Her identity, and how she became involved, remain ambiguous, but four different witnesses mention this event. One says it was the 16-year-old daughter of the abused tea seller. She “came forward and tried to save her father”. Another mentions a woman washing clothes by the railway line being hauled away. A third describes how a Muslim girl wearing a burqa and taking a shortcut to school through the station platform was pounced on and dragged into the carriage. All agree that a Muslim woman was hauled into the carriage by the karsevaks, who slammed the door and would not let her go. Refusing to be quoted by name, a local policeman confirms the story. And suddenly, what had been just an ugly little fracas, a drunken pantomime of power and subjugation, became something far more explosive. The karsevaks were too drunk for their own good, or they would have chosen a different station at which to pull such a stunt. Because now the social geography of Godhra came into play.…Godhra station, to the regret of the Hindus, is located in an area that is now entirely Muslim. And a huddle of Muslim-owned businesses sprang up in shacks alongside the tracks, many of them motor-repair yards. This little slum, known as Signal Fadia, has all the material a riot could require: stacks of bricks, petrol, and paraffin and Calor gas cylinders. But it also had the necessary human material: a community impoverished and bitter and surviving on the margins of criminality. The woman seized by the karsevaks was dragged into compartment S/6, and word of what had happened began to spread. “The girl began screaming for help,” said Ahmed, a wood dealer who was waiting for a train going the other way. “Muslims who were travelling on the train got off. People began pouring onto the platform to try to rescue her. I ran home – I could see trouble was brewing…” The train moved off, and the gathering crowd began pelting the carriage with bricks. Inside the train, someone pulled the emergency cord; the train stopped, then moved off again; the cord was pulled again 1km out of the station, and this time the train stopped and stayed stopped. “People in the vicinity… started to gather near the train,” says one witness. “The mob… requested that the karsevaks return the girl. But instead of returning the girl, they started closing their windows. This infuriated the mob…” The brawl had become a battle, with the karsevaks piling in with their swords and sticks, and a crowd now said to be 1,000-strong streaming in from the slum, bringing petrol, gas, rags – anything that would burn. Their gas cylinders broke the bars on the windows and exploded inside; the petrol bombs flew through and set the upholstery and the people trapped inside on fire. By the time that the police arrived in strength one hour later, there was nothing to be saved…”

Does this author think that 15 children were also drunk including babies and toddlers? What about the 25 women? All this nonsense and character assassination of the killed Hindus done by this newspaper is not even worth repudiating. This report is mostly based on fake mail but goes even lower by accusing the dead kar sewaks of being drunk, which even that mail did not say. But this report of The Independent was copied further by other newspapers, like Pakistan’s The Dawn on 22 March 2002. This malicious fake email circulated in the name of PTI reporter Anil Soni did the damage.

Frontline fortnightly which is a Communist magazine, which has slandered the dead Godhra victims, de-humanized them and defended their killers, too wrote in an article by Dionne Bunsha in its print edition dated 20 July 2002: “However, false news that kar sevaks kidnapped a young Muslim woman from the Godhra station platform was also circulated widely through e-mail.”

That email was denied by Anil Soni. Its contents were a bit too extreme. So after that, the Indian secularists and Islamists tried to blame the dead, but in a little less extreme way. There was an ‘independent fact-finding report’ by Kamal Mitra Chenoy, S.P.Shukla, K.S.Subramanian, and Achin Vanaik in April 2002 on the situation in Gujarat. This report was full of lies (e.g. It lied that the daughters of Ehsan Jafri had been raped and killed in the riots on 28 February 2002 while in reality, they were safe in the USA). This report was given in Outlook magazine.

Outlook reported:

“A Report To the Nation by An Independent Fact Finding Mission

The Sabarmati Express was late, not an uncommon event, and arrived in Godhra on platform number 1, almost five hours late at 7.43 AM instead of the scheduled time 2.55 AM… Some kar sewaks refused to pay for the tea and snacks and got into an altercation with the vendors. An old Ghanchi vendor, who is absconding, was ordered to shout pro-Rama slogans and his beard was reportedly pulled when he refused. [Our comment: If he was absconding, then how could anyone conclude that his beard was pulled? As a minimum, the vendor should make such a claim.] This was followed immediately by stone-throwing and physical assaults started. A Muslim lady Jaitinbibi was waiting for the train to Vadodara [Baroda] scheduled at around 8 AM along with her two young daughters, Sophiya and Shahidi. On seeing the fracas, they tried to leave the station. While doing this, they were stopped by a kar sewak who grabbed one of the teenage daughters Sophiya and tried to drag her inside the compartment, but contrary to later press reports and rumours failed to do so. Subsequently, this family left for Vadodora, but a journalist who spoke with them and has photocopies of their railway tickets confirmed the story to us…

…Apparently incensed by reports of the misbehaviour with members of their community by the kar sewaks and the molestation, even rumoured abduction, of a Muslim woman, a mob of up to 2,000 people allegedly of Ghanchis from Singal Faliya attacked the train with stones and firebombs. The kar sewaks of almost equal strength threw stones back. The main target of the Ghanchi mob appears to have been coach S6 which was badly burnt and in which 58 passengers, including 26 women, 12 children and 20 men died…”

This report slandered the dead Ram sewaks, falsely accused them of not paying for tea and snacks at the station for Rs 5, falsely accused the dead of pulling the beard of a vendor etc, and of trying to (unsuccessfully) kidnap a Muslim girl Sophia Sheikh. This same charge of the Ram sewaks attempting to abduct (unsuccessfully) this girl was repeated by Tehelka in October 2007.  

After the fake mail, they needed to find a girl who they could show as one who was ‘attempted to be kidnapped’. Sophia Sheikh did exist in reality.

The full-fledged Commission of Inquiry, the Nanavati Commission gave its report on 26 September 2008 and said that Godhra was a well-planned attack by Muslims. India Today reported in an article written on 27 September 2008:

“(The Nanavati Commission report says) A night before the incident, they (the conspirators) held a meeting in Aman Guest House opposite the station owned by an accused Razak Kurkur. Then they brought 140 litres of petrol from the petrol pump close by in seven plastic cans. The petrol was … kept it in the room of (Aman) guest house (in Godhra, which is opposite Railway Station) ….

The Nanavati Commission has discounted one of the main theories of a section of human rights activists that one of the Ramsevaks travelling on the Sabarmati train coming from Ayodhya had tried to abduct a Muslim girl called Sofiabanu Shaikh at Godhra railway station on February 27, 2002 morning. After interviewing Shaikh the Commission found several gaps in her story and concluded that she was parroting what perhaps had been fed to her a few days after the incident.

The report concluded that the story of a Muslim girl’s abduction was falsely spread on that morning of the unfortunate incident. This rumour was part of a conspiracy in order to collect a crowd to attack the train…”

This shows that such a girl indeed existed, and made such a claim of unsuccessfully attempted abduction, but she was not truthful in making it (and the other side was not alive to state its position). Nanavati Commission concluded that she had been parroting what was tutored to her a few days after the incident (i.e., after that fake email).

Even if any such attempt of abduction had been made by one or two kar sewaks, why would the mob have killed the entire coach’s 59 passengers, who had nothing to do with that, including old women screaming ‘Don’t kill us’, a total of 25 women and 15 children, including babies and toddlers? They would, at maximum have tried to recover the girl, and at the utmost, asked her to identify the abductors and targeted the abductors, instead of burning 59 passengers of the coach.

Those who claim ‘fake news’, ‘WhatsApp University’, and ‘Fact checking’ today actually spread such malicious lies insulting dead victims including 25 women and 15 children in 2002, based on a fake mail, despite the reporter concerned denying it totally, since it served their purpose of whitewashing the heinous crime of Muslims, and of painting the dead 59 Hindus as ‘victims of their own follies’.

(The writer is the author of book “2002 Gujarat Riots: The True Story” which gives all details about the 2002 riots- Godhra and after, one of the admins of www.gujaratriots.com and one of the admins of the Twitter handle @gujaratriotscom)

Meta official says documents fabricated: Here is how propaganda outlet The Wire cooked up bizarre story to target BJP

Nirwa Mehta
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Meta official says documents fabricated: Here is how propaganda outlet The Wire cooked up bizarre story to target BJP

Communications personnel from Meta, the parent company of social media platforms Facebook and Instagram, has called out the propaganda piece published by The Wire and said how the underlying documentation on basis of which the article was published appeared fabricated.

Meta’s Andy Stone was responding to a tweet by Jeff Horowitz, an employee of Wall Street Journal. Horowitz was reacting to an article published by The Wire on October 10, 2022 titled ‘If BJP’s Amit Malviya Reports Your Post, Instagram Will Take It Down – No Questions Asked’ which made some wild allegations against Meta and portrayed BJP’s Amit Malviya as an all-powerful individual who can get any social media post on platforms such as Facebook and Instagram down. The Wire even claimed to have accessed a report of an obscure social media account whose post mocking Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath was taken down and accused Malviya of getting it done.

On one had The Wire tried to project the BJP IT Cell head as an all-powerful individual who can get any post removed on social media and on other hand it tries to portray as if such a powerful person would spend his free time going through obscure social media troll account in a targeted manner to get their posts removed.

This social media account is apparently a private account on Instagram with less than 5,000 followers. It was ‘forced to go private’ as per The Wire to curb its reach. The Wire wants us to believe the BJP IT Cell head would personally go after an absolute unknown entity when, as per them, he can get any post removed within seconds. The person who wrote this article on technology is a graduate in Philosophy.

The Wire had also conjured up what they claim was a screenshot of ‘auto-moderation’ process being bypassed by ‘XCheck’ user like Malviya.

The Wire’s fabricated document

This ‘document’ is now called out as fabricated by the Meta personnel.

The Wire claimed that Malviya has ‘XCheck’ privileges and hence anything he ‘reports’ gets taken down with no questions asked. The above screenshot also shows how the post by the random Instagram user was skipped for auto moderation because the person who reported it (Malviya) had ‘XCheck’ privileges and how this post does not require reviews. The Wire then cites one report of WSJ where it talked about Facebook’s ‘XCheck’ program, some sort of ‘elite program’ to protect privileges and privacy of some celebrities and politicians.

The names of those in this alleged ‘XCheck’ list are not made public but it runs into 5.8 million users as per the WSJ report. Citing unnamed Meta source, The Wire claims in September, Malviya got 705 posts removed from Instagram, but does not give details on the posts. Neither does it give details of Instagram accounts whose posts were allegedly removed on Malviya’s behest. Many times some social media users play victim that their ‘freedom of speech’ is under attack and their ‘reach is restricted’ usually in a bid to gain attention because otherwise no one really cared about them. They seek to gain more followers on social media account out of sympathy by getting their names published in mainstream publications.

But now it seems The Wire has done a Tek Fog redux and cooked up the impossible story where BJP again has superpowers and then wants us to believe despite such superpowers, the BJP goes after inconsequential people. Like how they expected us to believe BJP was spying on alleged journalists like The Wire-level ‘sources’ Swati Chaturvedi using sophisticated technology, they want us to believe something as inconsequential as ‘cringearchivist’ is being ‘targeted’ by the IT cell of world’s largest political party, when clearly there are more trolls who are much more nuisance value than this non-entity.

And now, Meta official has come out and said how the XCheck program has nothing to do with review of these posts and they had come up by automated systems and not humans. And that the document The Wire published was fabricated. Imagine ‘speaking truth to the power’ based on fabricated documents.

Fabricated documents, concocted stories as tools of propaganda

Such fabrication of documents should not really come as a surprise. What The Wire is doing is very much in line with how leftist and Islamist propaganda works. They create an over exaggerated picture with imaginary claims so that even if their big lies are countered, their small lies get a free pass. Like how the Islamists in India are crying ‘genocide’ and ‘atrocities’ while their own coreligionists are taking out processions in India giving call of beheading to those who ‘blaspheme’.

Similarly, it is the Left that has been censoring the Big Tech. They got former US President Donald Trump deplatformed from social media platforms because they believed he was wrong. Interestingly, they are also the ones who rally for ‘free speech’, but for them, ‘free speech’ is valid only if you speak things they approve of. But here they are, conjuring up unbelievable stories to make the BJP IT Cell appear larger than life entity and accusing it of then going after social media accounts with zero significance while their own echo chamber tells graduates in Philosophy how brilliant tech experts they are for this ‘damning story’.

Oh, and now they will claim The Wire piece is being ‘attacked’ by BJP IT Cell because it ‘exposes’ them instead of introspecting and figuring out how did this bullsh*t pass through their editorial process.

Trinamool Congress MLA Manik Bhattacharya arrested by ED in Bengal SSC Scam case

OpIndia Staff
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Trinamool Congress MLA Manik Bhattacharya arrested by ED in Bengal SSC Scam case

The Enforcement Directorate arrested Manik Bhattacharya, a Trinamool Congress MLA, in connection with the SSC recruitment scam case, delivering another setback to the party. On the intervening nights of Monday and Tuesday, he was arrested by the Enforcement Directorate for failing to cooperate with the agency’s investigation.

On October 10, he was questioned over conceivable irregularities in the recruitment of elementary teachers.

On the instructions of the Calcutta High Court, Manik Bhattacharya, an MLA from Palashipara, was removed from his position as head of the West Bengal Board of Primary Education in June owing to alleged irregularities in the appointment of teachers for state-run primary schools. On July 22, the ED searched his residence, and he was interrogated five days later.

The Supreme Court had granted him immunity from arrest in the CBI case till October 10. He was arrested just hours after his Supreme Court-granted legal immunity expired. After former minister Partha Chatterjee was detained, the ED summoned him for the first time. The ED seized critical papers connected to the suspected recruitment fraud during raids at Bhattacharya’s home.

Partha Chatterjee, another TMC MLA and former Minister, is already in judicial detention in this matter. On September 28, a special PMLA court denied his bail application, citing the ‘gravity and seriousness’ of the offence, and remanded him to prison until October 31.

While the ED is looking into money laundering, the Central Bureau of Investigation is looking into any abnormalities in the hiring of non-teaching workers (Group C & D), assistant teachers (Class IX-XII), and elementary school teachers. Senior TMC leader Partha Chatterjee served as Education Minister during the alleged fraud’s execution.

On April 26 and May 18, he was questioned by the CBI. The ED arrested him on July 23 after conducting a 26-hour raid at his home in Kolkata. Furthermore, it has confiscated more than Rs 100 crores in cash and properties from the residence of his aide Arpita Mukherjee so far.

Retweeting photo of minor contributes to identity disclosure, was exposed to sexual harassment: NCPCR opposes plea of Alt News’ Zubair for quashing POCSO FIR

OpIndia Staff
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Retweeting photo of minor contributes to identity disclosure, was exposed to sexual harassment: NCPCR opposes plea of Alt News’ Zubair for quashing POCSO FIR

On October 10, the National Commission for Protection of Child Rights (NCPCR) opposed Alt News’ co-founder Mohammed Zubair’s plea to quash FIR against him in the POCSO case in Delhi High Court. In its submission, the commission pointed out that Zubair has neither deleted the objectionable tweet about the minor girl nor has he informed the concerned authorities about the users indulging in sexual harassment of the minor girl.

The commission informed the court that the matter was serious. Based on the status report filed by the Delhi Police in the matter, NCPCR said that it clearly shows Zubair was trying to evade the investigation and did not cooperate with the police. The commission said, “His Mala fide intention to conceal facts was evident”.

NCPCR further questioned the submissions of the Delhi Police, where it has said that there was no cognisable offence made out against Mohammed Zubair. The commission said it indicated the “casual behaviour” of the Delhi Police in the matter as retweeting of a photo of a minor girl contributed to the disclosure of her identity, due to which she was exposed to sexual harassment online. The matter is scheduled for a hearing on October 11, 2022.

The POCSO case against Mohammed Zubair

On August 7, 2020, Mohammed Zubair indulged in an online spat with Twitter user Jagdish Singh. The AltNews co-founder targeted a minor girl in his Twitter fight with this social media user. Instead of replying to the user directly, Zubair had brazenly referred to a minor girl seen in the profile picture of the user Jagdish Singh, presumably his granddaughter.

After Zubair had highlighted the minor girl seen in the photo, Islamists started to issue rape threats to the girl. Zubair’s tweet came under heavy criticism from social media users who accused him of shamelessly using a child to get back at a critic.

When one Twitter user had tagged National Commission for Women to raise the alarm about the predatory behaviour by Zubair, the co-founder of AltNews brazened it out, justifying his blatant doxxing that was clearly endangering the life of a minor.

The Child Rights Commission had taken cognisance of the matter and initiated action against the ‘fact-checking’ website AltNews co-founder Mohammed Zubair, who tweets from his verified handle @zoo_bear. NCPCR chief Priyank Kanoongo had also informed Twitter India and the concerned law enforcement officials about the tweet and had asked to take appropriate action.

Subsequently, two FIRs were registered against Mohammed Zubair for online harassment of a girl child while arguing with a Twitter user. In the first FIR filed by Delhi Police, the stringent POCSO Act was not added. However, in the second FIR filed against Zubair in Chhattisgarh, along with the relevant sections of the IPC and IT Act, POCSO Act was also invoked.

On May 20, 2022, Delhi Police informed the Delhi High Court that the tweet of Zubair did not constitute any cognisable offence.

‘Kafir’s soul does not get peace, will go to hell’: After spending a lifetime wooing Muslims, Mulayam’s death gets mocked by Islamists online

OpIndia Staff
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‘Kafir’s soul does not get peace, will go to hell’: After spending a lifetime wooing Muslims, Mulayam’s death gets mocked by Islamists online

Former Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Mulayam Singh Yadav, who opened fire on karsevaks in Ayodhya, is no longer in this world. On hearing the news of Mulayam’s death, his colleagues as well as political opponents are in a state of mourning, but some Islamists are celebrating his death on social media.

Sharing the news, an alleged journalist Ali Sohrab wrote on Facebook, “Mulayam Singh Yadav is no more in this world.” Along with this, he added #FNJ as the hashtag. FNJ stands for ‘fee nari jahannama’ which means that those who disbelieved among the people of the scripture and the polytheists will be in the fire of hell, abiding eternally therein, and those are the worst of creatures.

Seeing this post, there was no limit to the happiness of Islamists on Facebook. Several users responded to the news with laughing emojis, with several others also writing FNJ in replies.

Apart from this, many were giving a ‘haha’ ​​reaction to the Facebook post about the news of his death and were calling the former Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh a ‘kafir’.

Mulayam Singh Yadav, the founder of the Samajwadi Party and former Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh, died of illness on Monday, 10th October 2022 at the age of 82. Yadav was admitted at the Medanta Hospital in Gurugram, Haryana, due to ill health where he breathed his last. The news of the death of Mulayam Singh Yadav was confirmed by his son Akhilesh Yadav.

Firing on Karsevaks in Ayodhya by Mulayam Singh government

On 2nd November 1990, Hindu saints and thousands of Karsevaks, comprising also of women and elderly people, took their march towards the Ram Janmabhoomi site where the illegal structure called Babri then stood. The security forces, who were instructed to stop the Hindus from reaching the site, lined up on the road to block the way.

Tear gas shells were fired, and lathis rained at the Karsevaks, but the resolute Ram Bhakts neither counter-attacked nor did they agitate or falter. Suddenly the security personnel started responding by opening fire. Many Hindu devotees were targeted and gunned down. It’s believed that the security personnel hunted and targeted Hindus in every lane and bylane leading to the Ram Janmabhoomi site and within no time the streets converted into a war zone.

The incident which occurred in Ayodhya, almost 32 years back, left an ineradicable mark in the history of India. After the brutal massacre, different media houses had come up with different numbers of those killed on November 2, 1990. Though the official report on the incident concluded that 16 people had been killed in the firing, however, the fact remained that the number was potentially far higher.

Arvind Kejriwal hails Delhi HC for dismissing the case against Satyendar Jain, Netizens remind him Jain will continue to remain in jail

OpIndia Staff
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Arvind Kejriwal hails Delhi HC for dismissing the case against Satyendar Jain, Netizens remind him Jain will continue to remain in jail

On Monday, October 10, the Aam Aadmi Party supremo and Delhi CM Arvind Kejriwal took to Twitter to heap praises on the Delhi High Court for dismissing a case against his loyalist Satyendar Jain. However, he omitted to mention that the dismissed case was an old one brought against Jain under the Benami Act. Satyendar Jain, a senior Aam Aadmi Party leader and the Delhi Health Minister, is presently imprisoned in connection with a money-laundering case involving hawala transactions by a Kolkata-based business.

The AAP chief Arvind Kejriwal tweeted in Hindi, which translates as “The court dismissed the case against Satyendar Jain. They had forcibly put an honest man in jail for so many months. It would be so much better if these people invested their time in nation-building projects rather than concentrating on fake cases!”

Kejriwal was responding to a tweet from the Indian legal news website Bar & Bench, which said clearly that the Delhi High Court has closed all legal actions against Jain under the Benami Transaction (Prohibition) Amendment Act.

“Delhi High Court allows AAP minister Satyendar Jain’s plea challenging proceedings against him under the Benami Transaction (Prohibition) Amendment Act. The court has closed all the proceedings against Jain under the Act,” Bar & Bench tweet read.

In his haste to vindicate his loyalist Satyendra Jain, accused in cases related to disproportionate assets and money laundering, Arvind Kejriwal probably forgot to properly read the post shared by Bar and Bench. The post mentioned in plain and simple words that the proceeding against Satyendra Jain that has been dismissed was registered under the Benami Transaction (Prohibition) Amendment Act. Whereas the case for which the AAP minister is currently lodged in jail is the one registered against him under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA).

Taking a cue from their chief, other AAP leaders also rejoiced claiming that the court vindicated Satyendra Jain.

However, several informed Internet users were eager to educate Kejriwal. “This is a different and old case. It was registered under Benami Transaction (Prohibition) Amendment Act. Currently, he is in jail under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act and he will continue to be in jail till further order. Still, you can ask your media houses to ignore facts,” tweeted popular Twitter user Befitting Facts.

Another Twitter user @4racs called out Kejriwal for his ignorance. He reminded the Delhi CM that this was the ‘second old case’ in which Satyendar Jain was accused. “If the case for which he is in jail had been dismissed, the thief Satendra Jain would not have come out?” asked the Twitter user mocking Kejriwal.

Rohit Upadhyay, a former journalist and the current head of social media for the BJP in Delhi, claimed that Kejriwal purposefully withheld some information from the public in order to mislead them. He criticised the chief minister of Delhi for frequently using trickery and fraud.

Army veteran Major Surendra Poonia slammed the Delhi CM for lying yet again.

Another Twitter user called out the Delhi CM’s lie. Referring to Kejriwal as ‘Lavanasur’, a moniker awarded to him last year, the social media user Tweeted, “Lavanasur ji! This is the outcome of a petition filed by Satyendra in 2017. He is in Jail for a different case I think, and that is a money laundering case.”

Notably, the case filed against Satyendar Jain under the Benami Act pertains to a complaint to the Lokayukta against Jain in 2017, seeking a probe into alleged Benami transactions by the Delhi minister. Much to the disappointment of the AAP supremo, the case registered against his minister Satyendar Jain by the Enforcement Directorate in a money laundering case connected to the hawala transactions by a Kolkata-based company is very much open and the law would take its own course.

In April, the Enforcement Directorate provisionally attached immovable properties worth Rs. 4.81 crores owned by companies named Akinchan Developers Pvt. Ltd, Indo Metal Impex Pvt Ltd, and others under the PMLA, 2002. The action was taken in connection with the disproportionate asset and money laundering case registered against AAP minister Satyendra Jain, his wife Poonam Jain, and others.

It may be recalled that on August 25, 2017, CBI filed an FIR against Satyendar Jain in a money laundering case. The ED had registered a criminal case against the AAP leader based on this FIR which was lodged by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) in which it had been alleged that Jain could not explain the source of funds received by four companies in which he was a shareholder. The companies have reportedly laundered money to the tune of Rs 16.39 crores from 2010 to 2014.

Shiv Sena vs Shiv Sena: Uddhav camp gets ‘mashaal’ as poll symbol, Eknath Shinde faction told to submit fresh options

OpIndia Staff
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Shiv Sena vs Shiv Sena: Uddhav camp gets ‘mashaal’ as poll symbol, Eknath Shinde faction told to submit fresh options

As the battle between current Maharashtra CM Eknath Shinde’s faction of Shiv Sena and former CM Uddhav Thackeray’s faction continues over the Shiv Sena symbol, Election Commission has given mashaal (flaming torch) as the symbol to Uddhav Thackeray faction. In addition, Uddhav Thackeray’s party name will be Shiv Sena Uddhav Balasaheb Thackeray whereas Eknath Shinde faction will be called Balasahebchi Shiv Sena.

Out of the 3 options submitted by the Uddhav camp, Election Commission rejected ‘trishul’ as an option due to its religious connotation, while rising sun was rejected due to its similarities with DMK’s symbol. Earlier, the Election Commission of India froze the Shiv Sena’s bow and arrow symbol as both factions of the party continue to contest it.

Meanwhile, Eknath Shinde camp had submitted trumpet, blunt mace and sword as its options for the election symbol but all three options were rejected and they were asked to submit three fresh options to the Election Commission. The two factions were trying to finalise their symbols ahead of the Andheri East bypoll, a seat that fell vacant after the demise of Shiv Sena leader Ramesh Latke in May 2022.

Shinde had revolted against Uddhav Thackeray for forming an “unnatural alliance” with Congress and NCP. Thackeray was forced to step down as Maharashtra Chief Minister after more than 40 of the Shiv Sena’s 55 MLAs supported Shinde. Shinde, who later claimed to be the leader of the original Shiv Sena, received backing from 12 of the Shiv Sena’s 18 Lok Sabha members.

The elections are going to be held on the 3rd of November later this year.

Exclusive: Islamists in Mominpore wanted local Hindu Dalits to stop Lakshmi Puja, remove pandals of Durga Puja

OpIndia Staff
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Exclusive: Islamists in Mominpore wanted local Hindu Dalits to stop Lakshmi Puja, remove pandals of Durga Puja

The Hindu community in the Mominpore locality of Kolkata in West Bengal was attacked by Islamists on Sunday (October 9), coinciding with the Eid-Milad-Un-Nabi celebrations.

Opindia has now learnt that the Hindus were targeted by Islamists for refusing to dismantle the Durga Puja pandals, ahead of the birth anniversary of Prophet Muhammad.

A Kolkata-based journalist, who is privy to the incident, informed, “Mominpore is a Muslim-dominated area. There are small pockets where Hindus live.” He stated that a Durga Puja pandal, located close to the Jnan Chandra Ghosh Polytechnic college, was the primary target of the Islamists.

According to the journalist, who chose to stay anonymous to avoid backlash from the Mamata Banerjee government, the Durga Puja conducted by the Harijan Durgosave Committee (comprising of Hindu Dalits) were intimidated by the local Muslims.

“Muslims in the area have been pressuring them to remove the pandal and stop the conduct of Lakshmi Puja,” he informed. “In West Bengal, wherever Durga Puja is celebrated, it is mandatory to worship Goddess Lakshmi at the same site,” the journalist added.

While the Hindu Dalits were being coerced into submission since the time of Durga Puja, they refused to relent. In their defence, the Harijan Durgosave Committee informed that the Durga pandal could only be removed after the conduct of Lakshmi Puja.

This however did not sit well with the local Muslims, who came in droves to vandalise the pandal, pelt stones and damage vehicles on Sunday (October 9).

“They coerced the Ekbalpur police station to register a case against Hindus, who are associated with the Puja committee. They also carried out targeted attacks on Hindu homes and looted shops belonging to the Hindu community,” the Kolkata-based journalist added.

He pointed out that the Islamists, who attacked the Hindus, are still at large. “Their target was to force a demography change and remove Hindus from these pockets,” a member of a Hindu rights organisation said.

On being asked about police absence when Islamists ambushed the Ekbalpur police station, the Hindu activist said, “The police seemed completely helpless. Such an attack is not possible without some degree of political backing.”

“After the imposition of Section 144, things are a bit of control,” he emphasised about the ongoing situation in Mominpore.

Mominpore anti-Hindu riots: Here is what we know so far

Opindia had earlier reported how Islamists vandalised bikes and shops belonging to Hindus at Maila Depot in Mominpore. According to West Bengal BJP Chief Sukanta Majumdar, the Hindu community has been forced to flee after their houses came under attack in Mayurbhanj in the Kolkata port area.

BJP leader Pritam Sur also shared scary visuals where miscreants were seen unleashing mayhem on the streets. He tweeted, “Bombs and bricks are being hurled at us. Even the police are forced to flee. The situation is so grim that the face of democracy is blackened on the occasion of Lakshmi Puja.”

Under the allegation that an Islamic flag was desecrated, the accused also ambushed the Ekbalpur police station and forced the cops to flee. They were also seen waving Islamic flags.

Suvendu Adhikari wrote to the Union Ministry of Home Affairs and sought urgent deployment of central forces in the region to protect the Hindu community that came under attack from the Islamists.

According to Twitter user Syed Ishtiyaque Alam, Mominpore anti-Hindu violence was the handiwork of Ghulam Asraf (Phoenix group owner), Rehan Khan (son-in-law of a TMC councillor), and Shahbaz Alam (a close aide of TMC leader Firhad Hakim).

Delhi Commission for Women writes to I&B Minister seeking MeToo accused Sajid Khan’s removal from Bigg Boss

OpIndia Staff
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Delhi Commission for Women writes to I&B Minister seeking MeToo accused Sajid Khan’s removal from Bigg Boss

The head of the Delhi Commission for Women, Swati Maliwal, has written to Information and Broadcasting Minister Anurag Singh Thakur, requesting that MeToo-accused Bollywood filmmaker Sajid Khan be removed from the forthcoming season of the reality show Bigg Boss.

DCW chief Swati Maliwal wrote in a letter addressed on Monday that the minister should take action and that under no circumstances should a person like Sajid Khan be permitted to participate in television reality shows.

Sharing the letter on Twitter, Swati Maliwal wrote, “Sajid Khan was accused of sexual harassment by 10 women during the #MeToo movement. All these complaints show the disgusting mentality of Sajid. Now such a person has been given a place in Bigg Boss which is completely wrong. I have written a letter to @ianuragthakur Ji to get Sajid Khan removed from this show!”

Mentioning the names of the victims who accused Sajid Khan of sexual misconduct at the office place and otherwise, Swati wrote, “As the complaints against him reveal, it appears that Sajid Khan has acted as a sexual predator for a long time. Clearly, it is inappropriate for an alleged sexual offender such as Sajid Khan to be included in a primetime show which is watched by adults and children alike. This apparently gives him an undue opportunity to ‘whitewash’ his wrongs and be re-launched amongst Indian audiences.

“His inclusion in the show underlines the precedence that men who enjoy clout in the entertainment industry easily get away with abusive acts without facing any consequences. It also disrespects and invalidates those women who spoke out against his inappropriate sexual advance. They are upcoming celebrities in Hollywood and risked their career to come forward and complain against abuse by an authority figure,” the letter further reads.

Sajid Khan, a Bollywood filmmaker who was sidelined in the profession after sexual harassment allegations were levelled against him, is making a comeback on the reality show Bigg Boss. Following the news of Sajid’s participation in Bigg Boss, there has been much outrage, especially on social media and everywhere else.

During the 2018 MeToo movement, which saw women speak out about sexual harassment, Rachel White, Saloni Chopra, Sherlyn Chopra, Aahana Kumra, and Mandana Karimi, among others, made claims. Sherlyn Chopra disclosed distressing information about filmmaker Sajid Khan, such as being forced to touch his private parts.

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